Policy Agenda

Panhandling in Cleveland

What to Do About People Sleeping Outside?

There are many cities passing laws to make homeless people invisible. This never works, and only creates more people with criminal backgrounds who will be outside. NEOCH has a policy platform around how to reduce the number of people sleeping outside. Here are our recommendations.

Time Limited Shelters

There were efforts underway to limit access to shelter by implementing a time limit for every shelter. NEOCH does not recommend this as a strategy to end homelessness. We actually believe that every city in the United States should have access to shelter if a person comes to the door asking for help. We believe that withholding shelter should not be a punishment for being poor. Everyone is different, and some times it takes three months to find a job others take 15 days. The reality is that the majority of homeless people spend less than a month in a shelter. Here is our policy briefing on this issue.